I received this book a while ago from Netgalley and while I liked it fine, I'm not sure if I'd read other books by this author. Without reading other books in the series I was a bit confused by characters and plotlines. Maybe that is to be expected but the convoluted nature of the plot really got me. I had a hard time keeping the side characters straight and there were just so many weird side quests that only tangentially related to the actual case the book is about.

While I liked the characters, especially Gabe and rebecca, I'm just not sure that I liked them enough to read the entire series.

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read this.

Fun characters and great writing elevate a mediocre plot to near greatness.

Family Values is hard-boiled crime fiction in the classic P.I. tradition with modern sensibilities. Full of great characters, witty dialogue, and sly humor ( " ...this thing was gnawing at my insides like a bulimic beaver."). Add a gender fluid bodyguard named Gabe and a group of happy-go-lucky derelicts who serve as Waterman's version of the Baker Street Irregulars and hold on tight because things really get good.

For some reason this one had been on my digital reading pile for quite some time, getting shuffled down every time something got added, then I read one other book in the series (Chump Change: Leo Waterman #8) and remembered I had this one and put it right at the top of my list. I've enjoyed this so much I've already bought the other books in the series.

Family Values is the tenth book in the Leo Waterman Mystery Series, I've only read one other so I feel confident in saying that you don't need to be familiar with the series at all to be able to enjoy this as a standalone.

Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys a good P.I. story. I think fans of Donald E. Westlake would really enjoy this one. I also suspect that fans of Joe R. Lansdale's Hap & Leonard series might also appreciate its somewhat skewed sensibilities.

***I received a free digital copy of this title through NetGalley

Leo Waterman, as always, is able to winkle out secrets and lies. This installment in the series (no worries if you haven't read the earlier ones) is no exception. No spoilers- it's a good read.

This is the 10th book in the Leo Waterman series set in Seattle. This series is a great series in general and definitely binge worthy. I love the sass that Ford creates in his novels. This is a well- crafted plot, the characters are interesting, and the mystery keeps me coming back for more. Well done!

Returning to Seattle after a business trip in Arizona, retired PI Leo Waterman is shocked to find his coroner girlfriend Rebecca Duvall unconscious in her house which is filled with gas. The police and District Attorney think Rebecca tried to commit suicide since she was under investigation for dereliction of duty. But Leo knows Rebecca too well and wants to prove her innocence and clear her name. Leo goes to visit Rebecca's co-workers who have also been suspended from work. But when one of them becomes a victim of a hit-and-run, Leo visits the family and gets access to the victim's storage unit where he finds the missing files. With the help of his ragtag team of homeless friends and bodyguard Gabe, Leo investigates the five men in the stolen files. The trail leads to the exclusive Heights area and a family wanting to do anything to get closure on the death of their daughter.

Although it was great to see Leo Waterman return after a prolonged absence but this book was not one of the best.

I received this book for free from Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyable novel. I have read many of G.M. Fords' books and this one was just as good as the rest Really great!!

An okay mystery, to me it was rough around the edges, some of the side stories were a bit disturbing to me, but this is the first book I have ever read by this author.
The pacing of the book was good, it kept me interested to see how the story would play out.

A good read that I enjoyed. Lots of action and suspense with a dash of humor thrown in. Recommended

I’ve read and and enjoyed all the books in this series. I’d call them traditional mysteries with a lot of humor and heart. The writing is engaging and colorful, the language is funny, and Leo is a great character. They’re set in Seattle, and the local descriptions are terrific.

As the book opens, it’s Valentines Day and Leo has come home to Seattle a day early to surprise his girlfriend. When he arrives at her condo, he finds her passed out on the floor and her apartment full of gas. He manages to save her, only to discover she’s had a major career problem while he was out of town and the cops assume she tried to commiit suicide. She didn’t, and Leo is determined to find out who is after both her career and her life.

If you like traditional mysteries with humor and heart, you might want to give this book a try. I liked it a lot.

TIP: If you have Amazon Prime, I think this book and some of the earlier books in this series will be available to you FREE through the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library.

Family Values by G.M. Ford, Thomas & Mercer Publishing, August 2017, 327 pages.

Full disclosure: I received a digital advance readers copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Ford's Leo Waterman series is such a great series it deserves to be more widely read. He is especially adept at using Seattle as his backdrop for Leo's investigations.

I wrote the following for another of his books and repeat it here as my feelings haven't changed:

Read these if you are a fan of Sue Grafton (Leo has the smarts and heart of Kinsey Millhone), Janet Evanovich (Leo is not nearly as inept as Stephanie Plum but gets himself in some interesting situations and his "operatives" are very colorful), and Lee Child (Leo is a tough manly man but not at all chauvinistic). Ford also infuses his mysteries with a lot of snort-worthy snark and humor.

This can be read without reading the others but I highly recommend starting with the first, "Who the Hell is Wanda Fuca?" and bingeing on the rest.

“They were standing inside the door when I came out of the bathroom. Two of them. Matching gray suits, milling around like the owned the joint. Something about carrying a gun in one pocket and the power of the state in the other changes the way a person relates to the universe. For as long as I could remember, that particular sense of privilege has always pissed me off.”

Leo Waterman is a solid citizen now, no longer the scruffy Seattle PI that he was when our series began. But now that he has a lovely home and a good woman—well, sometimes anyway—he also has more to defend, and is less fettered by economic constraints. Those that have loved this series from the get-go should go go go to their nearest book seller or favorite website and get get get this book. New readers can jump right in, but likely as not, you’ll want to go back and get the rest of the series once you’ve seen this one. Lucky me, I read it free thanks to Net Galley and Thomas and Mercer, but it’s worth the full jacket price. It is for sale now.

Leo returns from vacation to find Rebecca Duvall, the love of his life, on the bathroom floor with a needle in her arm. Her reputation has been damaged by a suggestion of corruption, but Leo knows this is no suicide attempt. Her job as medical examiner is on the line now, and so Leo enlists the help of his boisterous investigative squad to untangle the mystery of who wants Rebecca not only fired, but dead. Ford tells the story with the gut-busting edgy humor for which he is known. He takes a playful jab or two at gender fluidity; at times this part feels a little excessive, but that’s not where the story lingers. There are a million twists and turns as our impulsive PI goes where everyone tells him he should not:

“’ I went out to see Patricia Harrington today.’
“’Don’t fuck with those people, Leo.’”

There are some arrhythmia-worthy attack scenes, and the plot wholly original and free of formulaic gimmicks. The streets and alleys of Seattle and the hinterlands beyond are all rendered immediate and palpable.

Ultimately the heart of the tale is revealed by Leo’s regard for Seattle’s homeless men and women, some of whom were once friends of his late father. It is them he turns to for extra eyes in a difficult situation:

They were great for stakeouts, as long as it was somewhere downtown. They could hang around
all day and nobody paid them any mind because society has trained itself not to see the
poor and the destitute. That way, we don’t have to think about how the richest society on
earth allows so many of its citizens to live in the streets like stray dogs.

The snappy banter between Waterman and Seattle cops is always delightful. It’s even better once we add a pair of fake UPS guys, some thugs known as the Delaney brothers, local ruling scions, and poor Rebecca as the straight character representing all that is sane and normal: “Oh Jesus…what now? Locusts?” The narrative is fresh, funny, and entirely original, avoiding all of the formulaic foolishness that makes old lady schoolteachers like this reviewer peevish.

The ending will make you want to sing.

Altogether, this novel is an unmissable treat.

This is the first time I've picked up a novel in the Leo Waterman series, so from that standpoint, I can honestly say I don't feel like you need to read from the beginning in order for this one to make sense. I was easily able to follow the characters, and the story even though I'm sure at least a couple of them have made appearances in other stories as well.

This was an ok story. The writing seemed solid enough, even if the story-line was at times, nearly painfully obvious. The pace was pretty steady as well, with only a few twists and turns to shake things up. One thing I had somewhat of an issue with is how one element of this story was solved. Sure, photos and evidence are good to have, but I feel like the prosecuting attorney would not have let certain things go as easily as they did. There still should have been questions, and maybe thoughts of a conspiracy, but there wasn't. And that was a little disappointing.

Overall, I am sure this story will still appeal to long-time fans of the series, and may still appeal to those who enjoy a good thriller novel.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

GM Ford gets better with every book. Way back when I read Who the Hell is Juan De Fuca..It was sort of light and quirky. As his writing has progressed it has become darker and even better.
Leo comes home early from a business trip to surprise Rebecca for Valentines Day. Instead he finds her passed out on the floor of her apartment. The authorities say it was a suicide attempt since she had just been suspended from her job but Leo knows she would never do that.
What I really liked about this book is that the first part concerning Rebecca is wrapped up halfway through the book leading to a bigger picture of why.
2 concerns. The story never goes back to Ibrahams family, I was hoping Leo would help them out. Maybe in the next book we'll get an update.
I don't like it when the cops are portrayed as stupid and always taking the quickest route to close a case.
That said, the next one can't come fast enough!

Retired Seattle P-I Leo Waterman has been out of town on business and returns a day early. As it is Valentine's Day, Leo, with flowers and Seattle's best chocolates in hand, decides to surprise his lady but gets the surprise of his life. He finds her unresponsive in her condo and it's filled with gas from the stove. The police say attempted suicide due to accusations of destroying files, etc. as a medical examiner. Leo knows it can't be true and sets about to get his contacts from his "past life" to help him sort it all out.
This is the 10th Leo Waterman mystery and it is just as enjoyable as the very first one. If you haven't read any of the series, do yourself a favor and line them all up and binge read the lot of them. The mysteries are very well crafted, the tone has just the right amount of humor, the characters are well developed and his turn of a phrase is perfect. He plays fair with the Seattle landscape and with the mystery.

This is at least book 9 or 10 in the Leo Waterman Mystery series. Set in Seattle, Leo is coming home on Valentine's Day to celebrate with Rebecca when he finds her unconscious in their home filled with gas. Doctors rule it attempted suicide but Leo knows better. Together with his friends, the retired PI investigates claims that Rebecca botched her job as medical examiner and is facing charges. Good mystery to solve and lots of suspense. This is the first book in the series that I've read and it stands alone well.

Leo Waterman, retired PI, is back in this latest installment of this terrific series set in Seattle. Leo is back early on Valentine's Day in Seattle, armed with surprise flowers and chocolates for Dr Rebecca Duvall, forensic examiner and girlfriend. Its raining heavily and on entering Rebecca's home, Leo finds it reeking of gas and a barely alive Rebecca with a syringe full of heroin stuck in her. A shocked and desperate Leo manages to turn off the gas and collapses with Rebecca outside. It turns out Rebecca has been suspended for corrupt practices with the loss of vital files whilst Leo was away. This is assumed by the police to be a suicide attempt because she could no longer cope. Leo is having none of it, he knows Rebecca, it is not possible for her to be guilty of such actions. His instincts seem to be right as he finds his home broken into and trashed, and another brash murderous attack taking place that could have left Rebecca for dead misfiring at the hospital. Taking no chances, Leo hires Rebecca the best bodyguard available, which leads to the entry of the brilliant gender ambiguous Gabe, a fascinating and eccentric character.

Leo investigates, with the help of his high tech wheelchair bound buddy, Carl, below the radar unexpected help from the SPD, the madcap quirky elderly drinking trio of George, Ralph, Harold and friends, and the deadly skills and expertise of Gabe. A shell shocked Rebecca recovers and illicitly accesses the missing files whilst acknowledging the gaping security holes in her department courtesy of the shocking budget cuts. There seems to be no apparent connection with the men whose files are missing, and no one seems to be gaining from their loss. As Leo digs deep, he uncovers the sexual abuse and exploitation of South Korean children, which Leo being Leo, he has to expose, and a trail that leads to a powerful family and the murder of Sidney's daughter, for whom their appears to be an unsafe murder conviction. As the bodies pile up, Leo and Gabe face mounting dangers and a ruthless, amoral killer prepared to do anything to remain undiscovered.

I was so thrilled to read this tense, suspense filled, and action driven addition to one of my favourite series. The author's most able expertise lie in the great characterisations, done with such skill. Leo with his wonderful background of a corrupt father, despised by so many, but with a tight knit circle of oddballs and eccentrics for support. The addition of Gabe is a masterstroke, I thought she is a wonderful creation, making great impact and continues the development of this superb series. By contrast, Rebecca seems to be the only normal one, but she has her fanciful expectations of a just world crack into pieces, which only makes her a more compelling and more human character. Fantastic, gripping and highly entertaining read. Many thanks to Thomas and Mercer for an ARC.

My first GM Ford title and i am planning on reading all the previous titles in the series. Great lead character with intriguing back story, fast moving and intense yet an easy read.
Really enjoyed it!